Zhou Zishu leaves Zhang Chengling at the Zhao's and meets Wen Kexing again. Together they make an interesting discovery.
A sardonic take on social relations in wuxia circles. "Mister Sun" is a tongue in cheek reference to Sun Wukong from Journey To The West. Qing-gong is the "light body technique", please see notes in the previous chapter.
Thanks to Emma P for proofreading!
Notes
秋山剑客 translated literally. Moniker.
武林名宿 (“wulin’s famous veteran”) in the text. Wulin, lit. “martial arts forest”, is an important term in wuxia that designates the whole of the martial arts community.
华山, Mt Hua in Shaanxi (western China), one of the Five Sacred Mountains.
断剑山庄 translated literally.
The heroes’ names all have a sardonic double-entendre, hinting at people who talk pretentiously to say nothing. Yu Tianjie (于天杰 lit. “with sky hero”) is a homophone of “explain to the skies”. Mu Yunge (穆云歌 (lit. “calm cloud song”) is a homophone of “sing to the clouds”. Jiang Che (蒋彻 lit. “penetrating”) is a homophone of “speaks too much”).
裙带 lit. “skirt’s waistband” means something relating to a female family member, esp. Wife. In context, Zhao Jing married into money.
Reflects ancient China’s social mores. Having sex before marriage was a woman’s greatest disgrace.
This passage reflects the common trope that great kung-fu masters may be unassuming looking.
Small inconsistency here, in the previous chapter Skylight is said to be infamous.
香饽饽 lit “savoury cake” = smth or smbd that’s popular.
The text mentions 火眼金睛 (“fire eyes and gold pupils”) which is Sun Wukong’s ability to see a monster’s true form in Journey To The West.
师叔 (shishu) lit. “teacher-uncle”. A person from the same generation as one’s own shifu, but junior or senior in rank. For example, A, B, and C are the disciples of Ω. B is the shifu of X, Y, and Z. Then, X, Y and Z call both A and C shishu. Btw, seniority amongst disciples isn’t based on age, but on order of arrival. For example, Zhang Chengling is actually ZZS’s senior disciple even if he is only fourteen.
青山不改绿水长流 Originally from a poem by Bai Juyi, it describes the unfeeling landscapes whilst the poet feels deep sorrow. The quote is famous and is colloquially adjoined with the phrase 后会有期 or “we’ll see each other again” esp. by jianghu people. Hence, ZZS tells ZCL they’ll meet again while making an allusion to his grief in a kinda coded way.
心有灵犀 lit. “hearts have rhinoceros horn”. Rhinoceros horns are said to confer telepathic powers, and the phrase is used to describe the tacit exchange of romantic feelings.
瘟神 lit. “god of pestilence”. Wordplay because “pestilence” is a homophone of Wen Kexing’s last name.
Chinese variation of Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara, the deity of misericord. An extremely popular divinity. Btw, here we learn that the “half” of the “three and a half people” is ZZS himself.
The goal of Daoists is to “self-cultivate” via various practices to attain immortality. Here the monk is a Buddhist, which reflects so-called “Chinese Folk Religions” that blends Buddhism and Daoism with other superstitions together.
志同道合 lit. “same mind compatible aspiration”. Gender-neutral and platonic. Flirtatious in context.
知己不知彼 is a variation on 知己知彼 or “know the self and the opponent” from The Art of War by Sunzi.
Wordplay by WKX as "flower thief" is colloquial for rape.